HELP, Now Roxy ate the nipple off the bottle!

Okay, if it isn't the limping. now it is this!

I was feeding her some KMR, and she ate the dang nipple right off the bottle. Swallowed it and everything!!

It was maybe about the size of a tick tack? Maybe a little larger. But not much.

WHAT DO I DO NOW!!

ARG!

polly never had these issues when she was a kitten! lol

when they eat the nipple off they are telling you the formula isn't satisfying them. start her on a combination of wet food and formula mixed up really well. Put it in a jar lid and serve it to her and see how she does.

She has been eating dry just fine. But the vet suggested once a day give her some KMR because she is so young. lol

I do have some wet. Maybe I should give it to her that way? Mix the KMR up with a little bit of wet and give it to her just once a day?

Once she got the nipple off she went to TOWN on the bottle. I had to squeeze it to get the formula out, but she didn't spill a drop.

Will it hurt her since she ate the nipple?? That is what I am really worried about!

Yes, eating the nipple can hurt her! Call the nearest emergency vet hospital immediately. They will either give you instructions for how to induce vomiting or they will tell you to bring her in. She must vomit the nipple, otherwise it could obstruct her intestines and kill her. If she gets veterinary attention tonight she will be fine, but otherwise she may not be.

There IS no emergency vet clinic.

The piece she swallowed was smaller than her cat chow.

Do you know how to induce vomiting???

There are at least 2 hospitals within a 1-2 hour drive of you:

Chastain Vet Medical Group
(972) 233-2703 6060 Lyndon B Johnson Fwy
Dallas, TX

Metroplex Veterinary Ctr
(972) 438-7113 700 W Airport Fwy
Irving, TX

A piece of rubber is 100% undigestible and can easily block the digestive tract. This can be fatal - I know of one kitten who did die from this. Please give one of these hospitals a call right away. This is a medical emergency and her life may easily depend on your prompt action. Please keep us posted.

We just got back from the vet.

Went in for a resp. Virus. and swallowed nipple.

Took stool sample from this morning.

Stool is fine. Given anti biotics to stave off any secondary infection while she fights the virus.

Vet said not to worry about the nipple, she will pass it. If she starts vomiting, then we will need to worry. But 9.5 times out of ten they pass it.

Whew!

Sorry to bump an old post but I wanted to list an end-to-end (no pun intended) experience under this topic & this seems as good a place as any. I searched high and low & found few threads (here or off-site) that told the whole story of the the big bad nipple consumption from the "Oh no!" stage all the way to a happy (or otherwise) ending. So, without further adieu...

Rocky the kitten came to us on Monday, 5/06/2013. Various DVMs, vet techs & a shelter volunteer guestimated his age between 3 and 5 weeks old. My step-daughter works for a place that sells & installs granite (thus our name of "Rocky") tile & countertops in homes for places like Home Depot & Lowe's. They found him & a sibling out in the stone yard in Denver. Since she has a Yorkie she decided to bring the kitten home to Mom & I. I weighed him on my postal scale that evening & he came in at 1 pound 1.2 ounces.

On arrival he was just shot with fatigue. He very likely had to contend with large guard dogs over the weekend & had a deep cut over his lip that could have come from an encounter with one of them but more likely came from one of the many razor blades laying around the yard used to clean the granite slabs of tape or identification stickers. Once the guys brought him in from the yard he just slept & slept & slept. I was called in from work to get the recommended supplies from the pet store & get home to help. When he awoke at our house he was famished with a voracious appetite. One of the things I bought was a nursing bottle that came with several rubber nipples. I clipped the opening on one with crossing slots (like a "plus" sign per the instructions), filled it with stage one formula & we started trying to feed him. Once he figured out what was in the bottle, he just went bananas for it & very shortly ripped the nipple top off the bottle (around 1/2 inch long by 1/4 inch diameter & devoured it continuing to suck at the bottle for formula.

My wife & I are novices with cats. I grew up around a few but was never responsible for their care. She had spent almost no time with them ever. Time to learn a lot - right now. The peril was obvious. What to do, not so much. The shelter volunteer we contacted was certain he would pass it, no problem. My research on the web was not as conclusive. We took him to a vet recommended by our neighbor. The vet said we should watch him & as long as he was eating & pooping normally all was well. She said it was probable he would pass it & possible his stomach would digest it. Much of my web research agreed with the "probable passing" theory though I was quite frustrated to find something on the order of zero people saying "Yay! He pooped it out today! All is well." So, I took the vet's advice (as well as many online recommendations) & watched & waited. And, waited & went through poop squishing it in clear plastic sandwich  bags looking for the rubber nipple & waited & went through poop. Funny how the focus of life can change...

The days went by & he seemed very normal; playful with a good appetite & gaining weight daily. He seemed to eat normally, play normally, & most importantly poop normally. My poop squishings came up empty over & over & over. The days turned to weeks & on 5/22 - in excess of 2 weeks past the ingestion - it was time for me to leave town. By this point I was thinking he had either passed it early & I had somehow missed it or the "maybe he can digest it" theory was right so I headed to the airport. Four days later my wife called me in L.A. saying he had just vomited MASSIVE amounts. My earlier research had shown there are a handful of symptoms of impending doom in this scenario:

1) Repeated vomiting

2) Appetite loss

3) No pooping

4) Lethargy

This was his first vomit session. Cats vomit so I wasn't immediately certain he was in trouble but it was time to pay attention - especially given her description of the volume. I asked about his eating & pooping. Neither had occurred since early in the day. How's he acting? "Very relaxed." Sounds like a nice phrase for lethargy. So, I said if he vomits again take him in to urgent care. He did so off they went. The vets at the hospital (2 different DVMs) said they were nearly sure it wasn't the nipple. Too much time had passed. At this point we are at three full weeks since ingestion. The theory was he had gotten into something we had missed trying to "kitty-proof" the house which was not an unlikely scenario given the time & experience we had. They got him stabilized with I.V. fluids & began running tests. (BTW - This is where you say to yourself - "Oh, yeah! Pet insurance really IS a good idea." ) X-Ray, ultrasound, etc. All came up negative.

He responded well to the fluids but did not regain his appetite. His attitude improved & he started being a kitten, nipping at people, climbing the cage door & generally getting more energetic. They were ready to send him home figuring whatever he had gotten into was past but then he took a dive in condition so they decided to hang onto him for another night & give him some pain meds. I got home on the 27th on an evening flight & headed to the hospital. We visited with him & discussed with the vets a little what might be the issue. They had ruled out a few things but were not sure. I brought up the nipple & they were beginning to think of exploratory surgery just to rule it out as they readily admitted the X-Ray certainly wouldn't have seen it & the Ultrasound might not have.

I got up early today (5/28) after a sleepless night & headed for the hospital on my way to work figuring I'd give him a little warmth for a while as they are great about visitors at this hospital. When I got there at 6:45 he was - as you might expect under pain meds - pretty lethargic. I talked to him a little & played a tiny bit with a small toy he batted at in slow-motion. He suddenly got up & had a little diarhia trying to get to his cardboard litter pan. I told the vet tech who dutifully came over to change his cage. Just then he let go some more mess on the pan. She quickly removed it doubtless in the interest of keeping the place clean & as it disappeared I thought I saw an irregularity in the stool. "Was there a nipple in that?" I asked. "No." came the response. But, she double-checked & it was there! Three WEEKS had passed! Rocky had more than doubled in size. He had seemed very healthy active, playing, growing for 20 days before the blockage occurred.

He is quite sore of course & he seems a little cranky. He gets a pass on biting people for today at a minimum. But, Rocky is expected to fully recover.

Notes:

The nipple expanded in his system to over 3/8" in diameter by nearly 3/4" long. Rubber doesn't break down that easily. Somebody more knowledgable than I can talk to the properties of it. But, my mechanic background was suspicious of the "maybe it will break down" theory anyway.

My theory (and that's all it is) is that the nipple lodged for a time at a parrallel angle to the actual intestinal track thus allowing food to pass right through.

We avoided exploratory surgery by hours. The vets were not sure what was going on. This is a reputable hospital, too. It is notable that none of them thought the bottle nipple could stay in his system this long. Remember again how small he was initially, though.

Hopefully, this is useful to somebody down the line.

Finally, Yay! He pooped it out! All is well.

Thats a fabulous outcome,through a heartwrenching time.I am goin thru the same thing,except Haarvey is literally SCREAMING when he is pooping.I am beside myself as im sure of the 'bill'.And i cannot afford it.I took him 2 the vet b4 he 'ate' the nipple because he was having 'issues' with diahrrea.They gave me something for intestinal parasites and sum butt cream.The diahrrea has never stopped and hes now eatin a nipple,2-3 weeks ago.Hoping to get to the vet soon.Hes losin weight(he was 1lb wen we found him alone in a parking lot)Were giving him pedialyte and formula as he WONT eat kitten food,wet or dry.Pray for Harvey.